Most disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, but disaster relief and taxes are more pressing, CNN poll says

Sept. 27--Sixty percent of Americans polled disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling the hot topic of immigration yet only 11 percent believe it should be Congress' top priority in the next few weeks, according to a new CNN poll.

Funding disaster relief efforts, dealing with health care and changing the nation's tax laws were seen as more pressing issues in the short-term future, according to the poll, which was conducted for CNN by SSRS, a market and survey research firm.

When it comes to undocumented immigrants already living in the United States, 84 percent said the government's top priority should be developing a plan to allow some people living here illegally to become legal residents, the poll found. Thirteen percent said the top priority should be deporting all people living in the U.S. illegally.

In dealing with immigrants who want to move to the U.S., 56 percent said the government's top priority should be reforming current immigration laws to better reflect the country's needs. In contrast, 40 percent said it should be enforcing current immigration laws to prevent people from coming to the country illegally, the poll found.

Interviews of 1,053 respondents were conducted between Sept. 17 and Sept. 20, with a margin of error for total respondents is 3.7 percent at the 95 percent confidence level, according to the CNN poll. The results were released Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 91 percent of Latinos polled believe Congress should pass the Dream Act, which would give some undocumented immigrants a chance to become a citizen, according to another poll, the National Latino Survey.

The Dream Act would allow certain undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children the chance to live and work legally in the country while eventually providing them a path to citizenship.

Forty-two percent of those polled would support something like the Dream Act but without permanent legal status or citizenship, according to the survey, whose results were released this week by Latino Decisions, Latino Victory Project, and America's Voice.

More than half of those surveyed said immigration reform/the Dream Act was the most important or second most important issue facing the Latino community that Congress and President Donald Trump should address.

Twenty-five percent of those polled ranked race relations/discrimination as a top concern facing the Latino community, while 15 percent ranked improving the economy as an important issue.

Meanwhile, 41 percent of the Latinos polled said immigration reform and the passage of the Dream Act is among one of the most important issues facing the country as a whole that Congress and the U.S. president should address.

Nearly 80 percent of those polled said they strongly disagree with President Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program -- or DACA. The Obama-era program temporarily shields certain undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation while allowing them to work. Just over 20 percent agreed with Trump's decision.

Latino Decisions surveyed 755 Latino adults between Sept. 12-19. The survey carries a maximum margin of error of 3.57 percentage points, according to the survey.

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